To Our Valued Customers:
Each year as the calendar turns, we try to utilize this season as a time of reflection and communication with our customer base
This is a moment for us to offer commentary on the events and accomplishments of the preceding year and to say “Thank You” for the trust and confidence that our customers place in us daily.
2019 proved to be another year of aggressive continuous improvement resulting in enhancements across the entire organization. We completed a major office expansion, allowing all nine of our project managers to come together in one collaborative environment. Our project managers act as the “inside sales” contact for our customers and with this additional space are now situated strategically for better customer service as all team members work together to facilitate projects and schedules on your behalf. We have also invested in additional large milling equipment to complement our five-axis gantry mill. Large scale machining is a service offering that has seen continuous demand causing constraints a significant percentage of the time. As a result, we have installed yet another large bridge mill with a size capacity of approximately eight feet (Y axis) by ten feet (X axis) by four feet (Z axis) to provide the additional capacity that our customers have been requesting. In addition, a host of supplementary improvements have also been made to internal processes and systems with an emphasis on high performance workflow.
We have just completed our 2020 Roadmap which represents our internal business plan and includes strategic goals and initiatives for continuous improvement for the upcoming
year. Succession planning has been at the forefront at Astro Machine Works as we strive to keep Astro growing and thriving well into the future. As a result, our current plan involves building dept
h and developing additional bench strength in each department and across the entire organization. We place great value on the “people” side of our business and each year spend time and energy nurturing our culture, including our values, vision and mission to heighten employee engagement and to optimize our overall organizational health. This year will be no exception and will again bring record amounts of employee training, coaching and mentoring across our entire roster. The objective is, and always will be, to provide complete customer satisfaction by supplying products and services which meet or exceed customer requirements. Consequently, our team members are the key ingredient to making that happen on a continuous basis and therefore warrant additional investment each and every year.
As 2020 commences, we are embarking on this year from a position of strength with the wind at our backs having these enhancements fully implemented and contributing to our organization on a regular basis. Strong momentum from the previous year and a sizeable backlog help put us in an excellent position right out of the gate. We now turn our attention to the upcoming year as we consider additional areas of improvement to enrich the array of services that we can supply our expanding customer base. As always, we will be considering additional capacity increases and expanding capabilities whenever possible to better serve our clients. This year will bring many enhancements as our reinvestment plan has been set and will include many ancillary improvements such as inspection equipment, software purchases and upgrades, improvements to logistics, marketing and our overall working environment.
Regardless of the current events worldwide including trade wars, tariffs, trade agreements, geopolitical risks and regional unrest, we strive to keep our eye on the ball, which is our customer. You are our focus and have our unwavering support regardless of happenings around the world.
In conclusion, we say from our team to yours; “We look very forward to providing continued support to our existing and future customer base with this team in the upcoming year”. Thank you all for a great and memorable 2019!
We wish continued growth and prosperity to you and your organization and look forward to working with you again in 2020!